Development Watch – Week #5 September ’22

Development News

---

Redevelopment of Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad stations approved

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved redevelopment of Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad railway stations for approximately 10,000 Crores. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that work on redevelopment of 199 stations with a total cost of 60,000 crores is going on through engineering, procurement and construction model (EPC). Tenders have been issued for 47 stations and work is progressing on 32. In the first phase, stations with footfall of 50 lakh passengers would be taken up. Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad stations will now be developed under a Hybrid Built Operate Transfer (BOT) model instead of Design, Build, Finance-OT (DBFOT) model.

Digital literacy and Skilling for Rural communities

NASSCOM Foundation and DXC Technology are collaborating to open resource centres to enable rural communities on digital capability in 20 aspirational districts. Focus will be on skilling 1 million youth through an 8-months project. The 20 resource centres for Digital Literacy and e-Governance will be established in aspirational districts across 7 states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.

These resource centres will be equipped with digital assets like computers, printers, and online resources like subscription channels. Physical resources like books, magazines, newsletters, etc will also be provided. Communities will also be connected to appropriate government schemes and e-governance services. Improvement in employability skills would also help meet market demands and 60% of the trainees would receive job support.

Delhi Master Plan 2041 by April 2023

Delhi Development Authority (DDA) would notify the new masterplan for Delhi by April 2032. This is as per DDA’s submission in the Supreme Court in a recent hearing. DDA has told the apex court that December 2022 is the tentative date for placing the Master Plan for Delhi (MPD 2041) before the authorities. Urban villages on the edge of Delhi are turning into slums. There are illegal buildings, without any roads or services. The step by DDA will help stop illegal construction and may also legalize farmhouses.

8.8 million sq ft Office space leased in last 18 months

First half of 2022 saw flexible office segment receiving preference in occupier space strategies. The share of flexible offices in leasing activity rose to 20.4%, the highest to date. In the second quarter of 2022, flexible offices leased 2.8 million sq ft. This is the highest in 3 years, while Q1 of 2022 numbers are 30% higher than the annual flex take-up for both 2020 and 2021 individually. Total flexible office spaces leased by operators during 18 months from January ’21 – June ’22 stood at 8.8 million sq ft. As per a JLL-CoWrks report, this comprises over 63% of the total space leased by these companies in preceding two years of 2019 and 2020.

Penalty on 13 developers by UP RERA

Uttar Pradesh RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) has imposed a penalty of Rs. 1 Crores 39 Lakhs against 13 promoters after reviewing the status of compliance of its orders by the promoters. The authority is making constant efforts to ensure enforcement of its orders and provide speedy justice to aggrieved allottees. The Authority, using its powers under section 38/63 of RERA Act decided to impose penalty against 13 developers. The section empowers RERA to penalize non-compliant promoters with up to 5% of the project cost.

India transforming its Clean Energy landscape

India is on way to achieve net zero emissions by 2070. By 2030, India has agreed to reach 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity and shift 50% of its energy requirements to renewable resources. Overall anticipated carbon emissions are set to be lowered by 1 billion tonnes. Carbon intensity of the economy would be reduced by 45% over the 2005 levels. The transition to bio-economy is based on projects under development, and deployment with high investment and high-risk ambitions. Efforts are being made in areas like lignin valorization process and indigenous technology for on-site enzyme production. Department of Biotechnology has been supporting innovation in advanced biofuels and waste-to-energy technologies.

National Logistics Policy unveiled and Approved

The Union Cabinet in India has approved the National Logistics Policy. The Prime Minister had previously unveiled the policy on September 17, which seeks to cut transportation cost by promoting seamless movement of goods across the country, and across the modes of transport. As per a DPIIT e-book, a unified logistics interface platform (ULIP) will be developed to help different government and private agencies. Shippers and service providers enable information exchange on a real-time basis in a confidential manner.

Other interventions proposed include standardization of physical assets, benchmarking of service quality standards, Logistics human resources development, and capacity building. The logistics policy also covers state engagement, export-import, service improvement framework, sectoral plan for efficient logistics and facilitation of Logistics Parks. The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) also held a series of workshops and deliberations with all stakeholders on the Policy.

Kohima to be connected with Railways by 2026

Kohima, the state capital of Nagaland, would be connected with railway network by 2026. Currently, Dimapur-Dhansiripar to Kohima-Sechu broad gauge railway line is being taken up in 3 phases. While phase 1 is fully complete, 65% progress has been made on phase 2.

$30 billion investment in 4G, 5G infra for Rural India

The government is investing nearly $30 billion in creating 4G and 5G infra. This would ensure last mile network accessibility in every village across the country and build a robust digital infrastructure in the rural areas. The government has reached out to over 1.5 lakh gram panchayats to date. This is creating a whole ecosystem of village entrepreneurs, channelising the energies of youngsters to take good quality high-speed data connectivity to every village. The model has been tested and 80,000 connections are being facilitated every month.

---